beanzmeanzheinz

Hi everyone

We are relocating to Indiana in the Summer 2010 with my husbands job. I would appreciate any advice from people who have made the move, but am particularly interested in hearing about cars, banks, shipping, schools, food, renting a house, weather and getting a job (I'm a speech therapist in the UK).

Any pitfalls we can avoid based on your experiences would be helpful.

Many thanks

Sue

Hi,

I'm not in Indiana myself, I'm in NC, so can't help with your questions, but I wanted to stop by and welcome you to our community. I am going to move this thread to the USA forums for you so you will get more responses to your post.

Welcome again, and please give me a shout if you have any questions about how to use any of the bells and whistles on the site.


Sue

Englishtart

Hi and welcome to BE There are a few members that live in Indiana, I'm sure they will be along with help for you sooner or later.

You might try doing a search in the box up top, if you put in Indiana, or anything you need info on specifically, you should find some info from past posts

Manc

Depends where in Indiana though.

Evansville say, is a different kettle of fish to Gary.

Bill_S

Indiana's a big state. You'll need to narrow it down to get better answers. If by schools you mean state schools for kids (public schools in American parlance), schooling is local, local, local. If you live at 123 Pine Street, your child will attend Overachiever Elementary. If you live two miles away at 123 Elm Street, your child will attend FUBAR Elementary.

SarahG

Whereabouts in Indiana? We are in Carmel which is just north of Indianapolis. Been here since end of October 2009. What visa will you be coming on?

penguinsix

Many of your questions are answered in our WIKI

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Category:USA_Lifestyle

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Catego...nancial_Topics

beanzmeanzheinz

Thanks very much for your post, it was certainly the most helpful, lol . We are looking at Fishers and Carmel to live, and therefore at schools and houses in those areas.

My husband has been granted an L1B which, I believe, allows me to work too.

How have you found the transition? It is quite tough trying to plan a move from thousands of miles away.

Maggi

Duncan Roberts

Carmel is great!

SarahG

Carmel is very nice and the schools here are great. It is a bit more expensive than Fishers/Noblesville though. My husband came over in the summer last year to scope out the areas around Indy as that is where he works and he thought Carmel was the nicest place that he looked at. He has a H1B visa so I am on a H4 and can't work. (Not a problem for me!) The schools here are good. My kids are Elementary age and the Elelmentary schools are very good. They do work on school boundaries so the school your children would go to will depend on where you live.
I haven't found it too bad adjusting to life over here and I have a Skype account so I can contact family in UK easily and set up a blog so they can see what we are up to. Feel free to email/PM me if you want.

SarahG

Yes it is. Especially the last few days when it has been sunny and warm!

beanzmeanzheinz

Thanks to all who posted - think we'll be sticking to the Carmel/Fishers area, as we have heard good things about them. Any other general advice would be very welcome, it's feeling it a bit overwhelming at the moment.
Maggi

SarahG

For housing ideas. You can search for sale and leasing.
http://www.fctucker.com/

or there is always http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/

Carmel School boundary map. VERY helpful. To work out what school your kids would go to, if you choose Carmel that is. Our lease is up soon and are looking to move. Found one place we liked but it was one road over to the next school zone and we didn't really want to move our son to his 3rd school in a year! So we are still looking.

http://www1.ccs.k12.in.us/district_map

beanzmeanzheinz

Thank you that's very kind - it all feels a bit scary at the moment

SarahG

It will bescary but we have found it is worth it when you get here, if that makes sense. Even though my husband is earning the same as he would have in the UK and we have lost my income, we are thoroughly enjoying the life here. We don't live in a big house and drive fancy cars but we don't mind. That is not why we came here. We are exploring Indiana and he is getting opportunities that he wasn't getting in the UK. The kids are loving it here and I am too. My family lived hundreds of miles away from me when we were in the UK so it is not too bad for me. Husbands family lived in the next street so I am enjoying the peace and quite on that front at the moment too. There are quite a few expats in the Carmel/Westfield/Noblesville area. Rolls Royce and Eli Lilly employ a lot of Brits so there is a fair few of us about.